Posted on 12/08/2006 4:56:23 AM PST by Dr. Scarpetta
Mel Gibson is sicker than we thought.
As his new film "Apocalypto" makes clear, he's not just a drinker and a raving anti-Semite, but a man with a grotesque appetite for human suffering and an enormous talent for exploiting it.
There was great violence in "Braveheart," too, but it was cloaked in historical context. And the stripping of Jesus' flesh in "The Passion of the Christ" had the cover of Scripture. But "Apocalypto" exists solely as an action-adventure and a deft cinematic demonstration of man's capacity for cruelty.
This is the true passion of Mel.
If you can take unflinching views of throats being slit, heads being caved in, a man's face being eaten by a panther, beating hearts torn from men's chests and decapitated heads bounding down the steps of a pyramid, you're in for a first-rate spectacle of inhumanity.
"Apocalypto" is set in the final days of the crumbling Mayan civilization, when drought and disease have driven warriors farther into the Mexican rainforest to collect natives for the sacrificial altar. As no one knows better than Gibson, the gods must be appeased.
One captive is Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood), a gentle hunter/gatherer who hides his pregnant mate and child in a dry well before being led away. At the temple atop a massive stone pyramid, Jaguar Paw is about to meet his maker - or the Mayans' maker, or at least the priest's knife - when fate intervenes.
A total eclipse of the sun convinces the priest that the gods' thirst for blood has been sated, sparing Jaguar and the other captives. But not for long. They're taken to a field and told to run for freedom while Mayan warriors shower them with spears and arrows.
Somehow, Jaguar clears the gauntlet and races into the jungle toward home and his family, with a band of angry, tattooed spear throwers hot on his trail and a tropical storm brewing overhead.
Is Gibson making some kind of comment about the inhumanity of non-Christian cultures - first the Jews, now the Mayans? "Apocalypto" suggests that the pagans are about to be tamed, if not have their souls saved, by Gibson's Catholic forebears rowing ashore from the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria.
More and more, Gibson's personality problems seem beyond the scope of movie reviews.
In any case, "Apocalypto" is the real deal as a jungle thriller. Its digital cinematography is gorgeous, its makeup and costumes are stunning, and its mostly nonpro cast - speaking in obscure Yucatec and translated with subtitles - is as authentic as the jungle of Veracruz where the film was shot.
Now that "Apocalypto" is being seen, four months after Gibson's arrest and tirade in Malibu, some in the media are asking whether Hollywood can forgive him by bestowing an Oscar.
What an ironic possibility! This is a movie dedicated to bloodlust (forget the gods, can the audience's thirst be sated?) and not the sort of thing Academy voters typically honors with awards.
An Oscar would not be forgiveness; it would be blindness.
I have no comment on anything except that of the leftist myth - that "white men spoiled a pristine native world"
When I first watched the movie I was confused who the hero was. Gibson could have done a better job developing the support for the hero.
Watch the film again, and assume the high priest and king knew what was going to happen. Made perfect sense to me.
The film reviewer on Fox & Friends, Bill McCuddy, said he's not going to see it and recommends that others don't either because of the violence.
Why?
You saw it? Was it good?
No I didn't see it. I took my mother to 'The Nativity Story,' which she wanted to see.
I meant was The Nativity Story good?
Was the fact that it was in a foreign language with subtitles distracting?
The Nativity Story is a simple movie about events leading up to and including the birth of Jesus. If Christians can find the time to go to the movies, it will remind them of what Christmas is all about.
I assumed the same thing. Hmmm.
Was the acting done well.....the filming? I would be really disappointed to see an amateur movie. I hope it was done very well. I rarely go out to see a movie. I prefer to watch them on DVD while working out.
This is not a movie review, it is a bloody personal attack on Mel Gibson.
I saw the movie, and it was so bloody I often had to look away. But it was an accurate portrayal of the demonic, bloodthirsty Mayan culture, while still preserving the humanity of the native peoples who were not absorbed into that soul-robbing religion.
Humans remain violent, and always will. Civilization does not erase that tendency, it often facilitates it with purpose and authority.
The only thing that tames humanity is love. It brings out the best in us. Love conquers fear and often overcomes seemingly impossible physical circumstances to be triumphant.
But love has an enemy, and it will cause each of us to make choices throughout life to demonstrate which side we are on. Whether we like it or not, the "right side" can involve as much violence as the "wrong" one. But that violence is for victory and then peace, while the violence of the other side is neverending. Unless someone fights back.
Here are a variety of opinions.
'Holy Bore: The New Movie ‘Nativity Story’ Has No New Blessings to Offer'
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1746875/posts
I am not a fan of subtitles. In the very beginning it was distracting for me (not for my husband) but then I got used to it.
The outcast leper girl was the prophet whose words came true in the movie .... being ostracized, even for uncleanness, does not mean you are wrong. Ask John the Baptist.
Very good movie.
We are still talking about the film. It left a strong impact. Many predicted that a film on this topic would flop. Yet apparently it was No. 1 on Friday.
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